[A]bsolutely remarkable and memorable! ... When I first read the script, I
thought that it would be impossible to have all of that in one play. It was as if I
had gone to a party, and had been offered an entire pot of gourmet food that I
had to finish. But ... with every new bite I felt even hungrier .... The directing,
the acting, the music and choreography were endowed with a complex
simplicityor simple complexity! It was all very inspiring and enlightening. It
felt as if the actors analyzed Rumi's stories, lifting the veils one after another.
--Lida Saeedian, author,
co-translator of The Portable Rumi
thought that it would be impossible to have all of that in one play. It was as if I
had gone to a party, and had been offered an entire pot of gourmet food that I
had to finish. But ... with every new bite I felt even hungrier .... The directing,
the acting, the music and choreography were endowed with a complex
simplicityor simple complexity! It was all very inspiring and enlightening. It
felt as if the actors analyzed Rumi's stories, lifting the veils one after another.
--Lida Saeedian, author,
co-translator of The Portable Rumi
Cast of Rumi's MATHNAVI: Jai Khalsa, Lee Ordeman, Elizabeth
Jernigan, Jamahl Rahmaan, Brandon Welch, Nick Scott, Bette
Cassat, Kim Curtis: "The Pear Tree of Illusion". The Hartke
Theatre, Washington DC 2005 tour
"The Bedouin and his Wife" Nick Scott and Elizabeth Jernigan. In
background above, Bette Cassatt as "The Seeker."
| Rumi's MATHNAVI OPEN THEATRE/DC 2005 Theatre for Peace Tour, East Coast Photos by Page Carr |
| StrinDberg's A DREAM PLAY: Open Theatre at Takoma Theatre Washington DC 20003 |
[A] striking lead performance by Tricia McCauley and
sumptuous costumes courtesy of Evgenia Salazar ...
TREY GRAHAM
WASHINGTON CITY PAPER
sumptuous costumes courtesy of Evgenia Salazar ...
TREY GRAHAM
WASHINGTON CITY PAPER
Sanskrit drama meets Swedish expressionism in
scholar-director Joe Martin's latest experiments with Open
Theatre. And while the pairing might appear unlikely to
the casual theatregoer, Martin suggests it is very much in
keeping with the origins of August Strindberg's
revolutionary late career opus, "A Dream Play."
"This strange play emerged in 1901, and it's one of
Strindberg's plays that gave birth to expressionism," Martin
explains. :I was interested in where it came from, so when
I did my book of Strindberg translations in Sweden, I was
investigating more the later period of his life."
Martin continues: "It has to do with his spiritual
crisis--well, it was a psychological crisis, actually--that led
to a period of searching, of a Christian mysticism. And
then he began reading a lot of Eastern philosophy."
As its title suggests, "A Dream Play" doesn't play by the
usual rules of European narrative, favoring the improbable
tumble of scenes and images associated with the drem
world. The story, such as it is, follows the daughter of the
uber-deity Indra as she descends to Earth to uncover the
roots of Man's unhappiness. In the text, the Daughter--a
Srtrindberg creation who does not exist in Indian
mythology--travelsthrough a decidedly European world.
But Martin wanted to try something different....
To assist him in this blending of East and West, Martin
turned to Christel Stevens, and teacher of Indian dance ...
The pair mounted a a summer workshop ... at Catholic
University as a means of recruiting and training the actors
who would make up the "Dream" cast. "I gave them all
dance lessons," says Stevens, "I taught them the hand
movements--how to tell stories with their hands in the
Indian style." The resulting production is a hybrid of
Eastern and Western theatrical conventions ...
DAN VIA
THE WASHINGTON POST
scholar-director Joe Martin's latest experiments with Open
Theatre. And while the pairing might appear unlikely to
the casual theatregoer, Martin suggests it is very much in
keeping with the origins of August Strindberg's
revolutionary late career opus, "A Dream Play."
"This strange play emerged in 1901, and it's one of
Strindberg's plays that gave birth to expressionism," Martin
explains. :I was interested in where it came from, so when
I did my book of Strindberg translations in Sweden, I was
investigating more the later period of his life."
Martin continues: "It has to do with his spiritual
crisis--well, it was a psychological crisis, actually--that led
to a period of searching, of a Christian mysticism. And
then he began reading a lot of Eastern philosophy."
As its title suggests, "A Dream Play" doesn't play by the
usual rules of European narrative, favoring the improbable
tumble of scenes and images associated with the drem
world. The story, such as it is, follows the daughter of the
uber-deity Indra as she descends to Earth to uncover the
roots of Man's unhappiness. In the text, the Daughter--a
Srtrindberg creation who does not exist in Indian
mythology--travelsthrough a decidedly European world.
But Martin wanted to try something different....
To assist him in this blending of East and West, Martin
turned to Christel Stevens, and teacher of Indian dance ...
The pair mounted a a summer workshop ... at Catholic
University as a means of recruiting and training the actors
who would make up the "Dream" cast. "I gave them all
dance lessons," says Stevens, "I taught them the hand
movements--how to tell stories with their hands in the
Indian style." The resulting production is a hybrid of
Eastern and Western theatrical conventions ...
DAN VIA
THE WASHINGTON POST
[...]
Director Joe Martin has taken a very Swedish script and
embellished it with all the touches of Indian theatrical
traditions that so fascinated Strindberg at the time he wrote it.
This play and the others of that period in Strindberg's life,
To Damascus and The Dance of Death are seen as the birth
of expressionism in the theatre and Martin has emphasized
that very quality. Don't look for anything like Henrik Ibsen's
Hedda Gabler which premiered only ten years earlier. Then
Northern European theatre was dominated by plot and
psychology. Here, just a decade later, Strindberg was taking
it into philosophy, replacing plotting with rumination and
realism with expressionism. Martin emphasizes the change as
he sets up impressionistic stage pctures at a leisurely pace.
Martin's cast is directed to use a highly stylized performance
technique with formal, almost silted gestures for nearly every
line of dialogue ("Look out there" is accompanied by an
arcing gesture of the arm, "I'm suprised" by a crossing of the
arms on the chest) that is at times hypnotic....Tricia
McCauley, as the daughter of the god whose journey is at the
center of the piece takes a more subtle approach to the
mannerisms, which works well because she is on stage
practically the entire three hours...
POTOMAC STAGES
| SIMPATICO by sam shepard Merrick Barn Theatre Johns Hopkins University, BaLtimore 2009 |
Mike Wills and MacKenzie Astin in
Simpatico, 2009.
Simpatico, 2009.
The cast of Simpatico, Merrick Barn
Theatre, 2009
Theatre, 2009
Under Martin's direction, the entire cast
performs admirably both as individuals and as an
ensemble. Martin clearly knows his actors and
his stage, with both being used to their full
potentials. The director uses the entire space in
any given scene, adding vigor and dynamism to
Shepard's heavy, complex plot. ... the actors
mastered the space they did have to use.
Rosinsky, as the always bewildered Cecilia,
captures the character's naive worldview in a
way that is humorous rather than grating, and
Gordon's boozey, debauched Rosie successfully
drives the audience nuts (as the character is
intended to do) with her flighty and flirty attitude.
In one notable moment, .... Vinnie (Mike
Wills) stands on his bed and jumps down to the
floor, and Wills barely makes a sound upon
impact (he must have practiced that!)...
But the true stand-out performances in
Simpatico come from Morse and Astin. Perhaps
representing the conscience of the play as a
whole, Astin's Simms is an insightful yet hilarious
character. Astin gives an understated
performance, delivering some of Shepard's best
lines, and at the same time, garnered the most
uproarious laughter.
... In the harrowing final scene, Carter has
fallen ill, and Morse spends the entire 15 or so
minutes shaking violently, while still delivering
his dialogue expertly... the production is surely
one not to miss.
--The Newsletter, Arts & Entertainment
performs admirably both as individuals and as an
ensemble. Martin clearly knows his actors and
his stage, with both being used to their full
potentials. The director uses the entire space in
any given scene, adding vigor and dynamism to
Shepard's heavy, complex plot. ... the actors
mastered the space they did have to use.
Rosinsky, as the always bewildered Cecilia,
captures the character's naive worldview in a
way that is humorous rather than grating, and
Gordon's boozey, debauched Rosie successfully
drives the audience nuts (as the character is
intended to do) with her flighty and flirty attitude.
In one notable moment, .... Vinnie (Mike
Wills) stands on his bed and jumps down to the
floor, and Wills barely makes a sound upon
impact (he must have practiced that!)...
But the true stand-out performances in
Simpatico come from Morse and Astin. Perhaps
representing the conscience of the play as a
whole, Astin's Simms is an insightful yet hilarious
character. Astin gives an understated
performance, delivering some of Shepard's best
lines, and at the same time, garnered the most
uproarious laughter.
... In the harrowing final scene, Carter has
fallen ill, and Morse spends the entire 15 or so
minutes shaking violently, while still delivering
his dialogue expertly... the production is surely
one not to miss.
--The Newsletter, Arts & Entertainment
Director Joe Martin, says he selected this play for the way it "captures something terribly wrong and even perverse, in the logic behind
the way business has been done in America, and how these market relations infect relations between people." ... The Johns Hopkins
University Theatre is celebrating its fourth full season in the Merrick Barn under the direction of actor and alumnus John Astin. The
cast includes Astin's son, Mackenzie Astin a televison and film actor; Scott Morse, Laura Gordon, Mike Wills, Hannah Carney, and
Lisa Rosinsky.
THE JOHNS HOPKINS GAZETTE
the way business has been done in America, and how these market relations infect relations between people." ... The Johns Hopkins
University Theatre is celebrating its fourth full season in the Merrick Barn under the direction of actor and alumnus John Astin. The
cast includes Astin's son, Mackenzie Astin a televison and film actor; Scott Morse, Laura Gordon, Mike Wills, Hannah Carney, and
Lisa Rosinsky.
THE JOHNS HOPKINS GAZETTE
| Joe Martin, selected productions, continued ... |
Sample this translation and a summary of Strindberg's
revolutionary classic here at productionscripts.com (UK).
Includes 90% of this new translation funded by the
Strindberg Society and the Swedish Institute in acting
edition format.
revolutionary classic here at productionscripts.com (UK).
Includes 90% of this new translation funded by the
Strindberg Society and the Swedish Institute in acting
edition format.